Kill talks about life after football

DeKALB – For a conversation that started with a question on his contract extension, Jerry Kill made an interesting statement about his exit from coaching and his after-football plans.

Kill, the Northern Illinois football coach who was handed a two-year contract extension this past Thursday, was asked at his weekly news conference about that extension and the security it provided.

After again stating that it wasn't about money and that he was appreciative of NIU's administration for giving him the extension, the conversation drifted to Kill's plans for whenever he stops coaching.

"Much like I said all my life, I'll be fishing on some lake in a one-room cabin eating peanut butter and jelly and I'll live a good life," he said. "If it came tomorrow and they told me, 'Hey coach, you're just not what we want.' I'm OK with it. I'm not going to have a press conference with me standing up here bellyaching and griping and complaining.

"When I come to work and it becomes work, I'll walk away from it. But I've got a lot of juice in me right now."

Asked how often he gets to fish, Kill replied that he gets to do it once a year, during Fourth of July weekend with his brother at Lake Egypt in southern Illinois.

"That's my piece of mind," Kill said. "I look forward the Fourth of July. The second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth, don't call me. I'm on Lake Egypt. And I'm fishing. And I'm bass fishing and I enjoy it. I have to learn how to do it every year. [My brother] does a lot of it so he has to teach me how to do stuff right."

As for his success rate at the lake, Kill said, "I catch a few, just enough to keep me enjoying it."

Punting evaluation: Punter Josh Wilber has been punting with a bruise on the top of his kicking foot, suffered in camp on a punt rush, Kill said. Wilber punted five times for a 37.8-yard average against the Badgers.

"He did OK," Kill said. "I think part of it is he hurt his foot earlier in camp. He was really punting well and he got hit on a punt rush. He's had a bruised top of his foot and I think that's affected him a little bit. He did OK. I'd like to see us be even better in the net punt. It wasn't bad. But it could be better."

Scouting report: Kill also gave a brief scouting report on Western Illinois quarterback Matt Barr, who threw for 437 yards last week against Sam Houston State.

"He reminds me a little bit of Nick Hill who we had at Southern [Illinois]," Kill said. "He's a shifty guy, can get out of trouble. He's what I call a designated scrambler, can step up in the pocket, slide out of it and then throw it deep on you."